On the road again

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This week we have been down to Whanganui to continue our house hunting. It turned out to be a much more informative and positive trip than we were expecting. We stopped briefly for a picnic lunch in Whanganui last year while on holiday, liked what little we saw, and were enthusiastic to return. We stayed in a holiday park in Castlecliff for two nights so that we could have a whole day exploring without travelling. Not only did we really like the town, but much to our surprise we found two sections which could be suitable, and a house on the same road as one of the sections. The house is in good enough condition to just move in, though if we were to live there long term we would want to make changes. However, as a house to live in while we build on the section down the road, it could be ideal.

We also enjoyed our journeys to (Thursday) and from (Saturday), the whole trip being helped by lovely sunny crisp autumn weather. We encountered some entertaining toilets in Otorohanga:


Just across the road from the holiday park where we were staying (it’s in the background of this photograph) there was a triceratops made out of driftwood:


There was also a wee café where we had great burgers on Friday evening.

At the beginning of the week Nicky was trying to get back into a normal sleeping pattern after doing such long hours at the Writers Festival, but what with memories of all the great sessions she saw going round her head and the prospects of Whanganui later in the week, it was quite difficult. She made us some lovely platted brioche on Wednesday, much of which we took with us on Thursday, and a tuna roulade which was very tasty. I had work on Tuesday and Wednesday, and managed some shopping and assisted with the laundry.

Today has been a reset sort of day, with much continued discussion about what we saw in Whanganui, two loads of laundry, and giving Luna a wash inside and out as she had got very dirty on our almost 1000km round trip. This afternoon Nicky Scrabbled over at Stella’s, and our tea of bruschetta was followed by much tellyboxing.


Take care, Rick

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